Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2020 i Whisky Advocate

Absinthe is known to whiskey drinkers for the distinctive anise flavor it lends to a classic Sazerac cocktail, which blends the botanical green spirit with rye whiskey, Peychaud’s bitters, and sugar. “It’s not really meant to make a big, complicated cocktail as much as it is just dressing up that little bit of whiskey in the glass,” says Brent Rosen, president of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. Like a flower on a lapel, a little absinthe adds a lot of flair. Traditionally made from wormwood—a plant that contains the mind-altering substance thujone—absinthe gained a notably naughty reputation; it was (largely spuriously) blamed for a litany of social ills, and banned in the U.S. and much of Europe by the early 1900s. Sazerac drinkers made do with…

IF YOU LIKE Craft whiskey TRY Hampden Estate 46% • $55 The fruity funk of white rums from this fabled Jamaican distillery is tamed by the barrel. On the heels of a broad, earthy minerality comes a rounded, chalky finish. IF YOU LIKE Peated scotch TRY La Maison & Velier Caroni 2000 55% • $215 These prized barrels sourced from a defunct Trinidad distillery are full of smoked vanilla up front, followed by dense but fleeting notes of molasses and peat-like phenols. IF YOU LIKE Spicy rye whiskey TRY Panamá-Pacific 9 year old 47.3% • $30 This Panamanian rum serves up a broad sweetness on entry that swiftly gives way to a spicy blend of black pepper, ginger, and a touch of prune. IF YOU LIKE Barrel-proof bourbon TRY Plantation O.F.T.D.…

In liquor and in life, Matt Rehwoldt is all about balance. “To me, balance is key to just everything you do, whether it’s fitness, whether it’s work,” he says, sipping a glass of bourbon at The Shanty, New York Distilling Co.’s adjoining cocktail bar. “I try to be balanced in everything I can because I think that’s where peace lies and understanding lies. While passion might lie in the extremes, so does trouble.” For a guy with multiple pursuits, and personas, it’s an appropriate mantra. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fans know Rehwoldt better as Aiden English, aka The Drama King, antagonistic wrestler turned sharp-dressed announcer. The whisky world is getting to know the bearded Chicagoan via his YouTube channel and social media accounts that combine his passions, aptly titled Wrestling…

Targeting the smaller pool of wealthy collectors trying to acquire high-value whiskies raises the stakes for those buying whiskies to sell for profit. You are putting your assessment of a higher demand for the whisky up against that of the distiller, who has calculated their release price based on its anticipated appeal. If the retail buyer has an edge it may be that not every factor is predictable in advance; awards, high-scoring reviews, and word-of-mouth excitement all have the power to catapult a whisky onto the must-have lists of collectors, bars, whisky clubs, and investors. Get your timing right and you could reap the rewards of offering the only bottle on the horizon to an eager multitude of buyers. Get it wrong, and your mistake could cost you thousands of…

Where bars are concerned, I consider myself to be a bit of an aficionado. I can’t say when I first visited one, but I can report that by my late teens, I was a more-or-less regular at the Duke of Bedford, the faux-British pub that my friends and I would frequent after and sometimes during school. The Duke wasn’t much to look at, but it was convenient, friendly, and perhaps most importantly, comfortable. It’s been more than a couple of decades since those halcyon days of drinking at the Duke, but since then I have been fortunate enough to visit literally hundreds of bars, pubs, cafés, and taverns, all over the world. And among a certain class of such premises, call them the hip or fashionable spots, that final element—comfort—seems…

C+S Cost plus shipping. A seller is stating they are making no profit on a bottle. CAMP OUT The act of waiting outside a retail store for a whiskey, often overnight. CONUS Shipping only to contiguous 48 states. DOLL HAIRS Dollars. DUSTY A vintage bottle no longer in production, sometimes found dust-covered on shelves. FLIPPER One who resells whiskey purely for profit, as opposed to a love of whiskey. FT For trade. IN THE WILD An instance when a bottle is found on a retail shelf rather than through a private or secondary market sale. HONEY HOLE A store that frequently offers rare whiskies. “I visited my family upstate this weekend and you won’t believe what I picked up at my favorite honey hole.” JUICE Slang for the liquid in…

Several styles of whiskey—including blended, blended straight, and non-straight rye, wheat, malt, and corn whiskeys—may include up to 2.5% “harmless coloring/flavoring/blending materials” without disclosing it on the label. Beyond those designations, however, there are additional types that often look like whiskey on the shelf. Distilled Spirits Specialty [Includes Whiskey Specialties] Generally, any class and/or type of distilled spirits that contain or are treated with flavoring and/or coloring materials and/or nonstandard blending or treating materials or processes. This includes bourbons and straight American whiskeys that are finished, or partly matured, in a secondary barrel such as a sherry, port, or rum cask. Flavored Whiskey Whiskey with natural flavoring materials, with or without the addition of sugar, bottled at not less than 30% alcohol by volume (60 proof). The name of the…

Must-See On Skye Dunvegan Castle This has been the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan MacLeod for 800 years and is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. According to legend, their magical Fairy Flag, dating from the 4th century, ensures the Macleod clan is never defeated in battle. dunvegancastle.com Flora MacDonald’s Memorial, Kilmuir Cemetery This site is situated six miles north of the ferry port of Uig. According to legend, Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a girl, fled “over the sea to Skye” after the failed Jacobite rising of 1745/46, assisted by local Flora MacDonald. The Prince is said to have gifted the recipe for the renowned Drambuie whisky liqueur to Captain John MacKinnon as a reward for his protection. theskyeguide.com Kilt Rock and the Mealt Waterfall Located…

The Buying Guide provides ratings of whiskies from around the world with an emphasis on new releases available for purchase in the U.S. Complete tasting notes are provided for all whiskies scoring 84 points or more (on the Whisky Advocate 100-point scale). Lower scoring whiskies are included at the discretion of the editors, and some may appear exclusively on whiskyadvocate.com. RATINGS AND PRICES Ratings are to provide a relative comparison of quality with reference to both directly competing products and whiskies in general. Price is not a consideration when arriving at ratings. Prices shown reflect the suggested retail price. When none is available, we establish a representative retail price. Actual retail prices may vary. Whiskies sold in the U.S. have prices marked in dollars; any whisky priced in other currency…

If Peter Piper really did pick a peck of pickled peppers, what sort of whisky do you think he chose to drink with them? The question is not entirely fanciful, particularly if Peter lives in the U.S., since it is estimated that in 2019 the per capita consumption of pickles was around nine pounds. Granted, most of these pickles are made from cucumbers rather than peppers, with roughly 100,000 to 125,000 acres devoted to growing pickling cucumbers in 30 states, led by Michigan and North Carolina. The relatively mild flavor of these cucumbers makes them the perfect blank canvas for several pickling procedures. According to Linda Ziedrich, author of three editions of The Joy of Pickling, the principal separation in pickles concerns preparation, specifically whether they are fermented or pickled in…

Champagne features in some of the finest classic cocktails, like the French 75 and the eponymous Champagne Cocktail. Whisky, however, has rarely been part of such spirited liaisons. Modern bartenders have discovered that the bright acidity of champagne plays well with whiskies, and “the yeast build in the champagne balances the sweetness found in whisky,” explains bar consultant and educator Tiffanie Barriere, aka The Drinking Coach. So, uncork some bubbles and add effervescence to your whisky. Irish Rover Created by Adam Robinson, owner of Dead-shot, Portland, Oregon “The floral notes of the chamomile syrup complement the robust Irish whiskey, while the bright acidity of the sparkling wine along with the lemon juice makes for a very well-balanced cocktail,” Robinson says. 1 ½ oz. Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey (or other blended…

PicoBrew with PicoStill $748 The PicoBrew C model with PicoStill ($350), a 5-liter vacuum still suitable for professional distillers or non-alcoholic distillates. picobrew.com Unless you have a license, it’s illegal to make whisky in your kitchen. But you may want to prepare as the Hobby Distiller’s Association lobbies for legal home distilling. In the meantime, trick out your kitchen with these other whisky-friendly appliances, or put the PicoStill to use making hop oils. SIDEBAR Dispensing System $399 Stash your favorite house pours under the cabinet and access up to five whiskies or other spirits with the push of a button. sidebarbeverage.com LG InstaView with craft ice starting at $1,700 This refrigerator creates slow melting ice spheres without the need for molds. It produces two to three a day, which is…

Whiskey labels are prohibited from using the expression “pure whiskey,” but I am not so constrained. What I call pure whiskey is distillate made from a mash of grain, distilled below neutrality, and matured in oak, specifically oak containers untouched by anything except whiskey. Everything else is something else. With the massive success of products such as Jack Daniel’s Honey and Sazerac’s Fireball, we’ve seen a lot of these something-elses recently. They’re commonly referred to as flavored whiskey, even though few are classified as such by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). They range from whiskeys that have spent time finishing in other casks to sweetened liqueurs, and everything in between. More and more bourbons are finished in barrels that previously held something…

If you’ve ever looked with envy at a photo of a faraway liquor store, packed with shelves full of coveted whiskeys like Blanton’s, Four Roses Limited Edition, or Weller 12 year old, and wondered why your local selection appears so bleak in comparison, the answer may simply be that you’re in the wrong place. Each state determines how to handle its own alcohol sales, often creating huge disparities in whiskey selection, availability, and prices. The United States has one of the most complicated systems of alcohol sale in the world, and it all goes back to Prohibition. Before the Noble Experiment that outlawed the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of “intoxicating liquors,” producers of alcohol, usually brewers, often owned the places where alcohol was sold, such as saloons. This arrangement, known…

96 Redbreast 12 year old 40% • $60 Toffee, toasted marshmallow, banana bread, maple syrup, and a hint of toasted coconut. 96 Redbreast 21 year old 46% • $304 Spice, dark cherry, and berries, with a delightful wood influence throughout. 95 Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy 46% • $258 Caramel, dates, treacle, pot still spice, fleeting green apple, vanilla, and cinnamon. 94 Powers John’s Lane 12 year old 46% • $91 Slightly fermented Bramley apples, oolong tea, green banana, spices. 93 Kilbeggan Single Pot Still 43% • $45 Orange, apricot, cake, vanilla, and fizzing pot still spices. 93 Redbreast Lustau 46% • $69 Fruit, oak, walnut, spices, red berries, apples, and marzipan. 92 Powers Three Swallow 43.2% • $52 Marmalade, sugared almonds, golden barley, citrus, green apple, and spice. 92 Redbreast…

These products use words like whiskey, bourbon, and rye prominently on their labels. Some also display the names of well-known whiskey brands; however, none of these are straight whiskey. That doesn’t mean they’re inferior or you shouldn’t consider drinking them, but that they may display flavors well outside what’s normal for conventional whiskey. Angel’s Envy Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels LOOKS LIKE Bourbon IT’S REALLY Whiskey specialty Kentucky straight bourbon finished in port barrels. Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye LOOKS LIKE Rye IT’S REALLY Whiskey specialty Kentucky straight rye blended with Canadian rye and port-style wine. Evan Williams Honey LOOKS LIKE Bourbon IT’S REALLY Liqueur Kentucky straight bourbon blended with honey liqueur. FEW Cold Cut Bourbon LOOKS LIKE Bourbon IT’S REALLY Whiskey specialty Bourbon diluted to proof with cold-brew…

93 Talisker 18 year old 45.8% • $160 Refined, with oak and fruit gumdrops before a knockout pepper punch on the finish. 91 Talisker 15 year old (Diageo Special Releases 2019) 57.3%, • $140 Sweet with fleshy oranges, peaches, cocoa powder, woodsmoke, and peppery peat. 91 Talisker Select Reserve Game of Thrones House Greyjoy 45.8% • $45 Sweet smoke and citrus fruit; peaty, with soft toffee and light pepper. 90 Talisker 10 year old 45.8% • $50 Smoke with sweet pear, heather, moor, sweet seaweed, and cracked black pepper. 90 Talisker Distillery Exclusive 2019 48% • £95 Citrus fruits and sweet peat smoke, with fruit and oak spices and a hint of pepper. 89 Talisker Storm 45.8% • $40 Sweet and spicy, with cranberries and black currants, peat smoke, and black pepper. 88 Talisker…

A picture is worth a thousand words! No, sorry, it’s not. A picture isn’t even worth seven words, and if you disagree, try expressing that notion—that a picture is worth a thousand words—with a picture. Which is why I deleted the gazillion emojis that my phone thought I needed. I ignored them until they (whoever they are) added pictures of faces expressing emotions I couldn’t identify. It was then that I realized emojis are an attempt to return to the days of ideograms, to ignore the progress of written English from Beowulf to Eric Blair, Milton to Mark Twain, and revert to hieroglyphics. To pitch W. H. Auden down the drain in favor of the Tutankhamun cartoons. But people of course still sent them to me. I was awash in…

When the Scotch Whisky Industry Environmental Strategy was first published in 2009, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) outlined targets for its members to achieve by 2020 and 2050. Judging from the regular SWA updates, a lot of progress has been made already. Years before 2020, the industry had already surpassed its target of using recycled materials in over 40% of packaging, a 10% improvement in water efficiency, and using non-fossil fuels for a fifth of its primary energy needs. For packaging weight, the stated goal was a reduction by an average of 10%, the equivalent of making every case around 1 ½ pounds lighter. But for this particular weighty 2020 objective, it’s not just that the pounds aren’t falling off fast enough, they’ve actually become heavier by 2.4% since 2012.…

VAN WINKLE SPECIAL RESERVE 12 YEAR OLD BOURBON (LOT B) $80 MSRP $525 Secondary Market Price The poster child for whiskey flipping due to its rarity and high demand. The prevalence of counterfeits often requires multiple photos, showcasing fill level, laser code, and foil seals. W. L. WELLER 12 YEAR OLD BOURBON $99 MSRP $150 Secondary Market Price The potential margins on this bottle are generous and, given the scattered national allocation, people in some regions where it isn’t distributed will pay as much as $200. BLANTON’S SINGLE BARREL BOURBON $60 MSRP $120+ Secondary Market Price Depending on the date it was dumped from the barrel, as stated on the label, this whiskey’s prices can fluctuate immensely. People searching for specific dates to commemorate anniversaries or birthdates will pay $300…

The three-tier system of alcohol distribution became enshrined in law following the repeal of Prohibition. It is designed to distribute wine and spirits from manufacturer to marketplace while ensuring all federal and state taxes are paid. When a whisky is limited, allocation may be based on demographics, geography, sales, or even arbitrary factors. TIER 1 Manufacturer Distillery produces a limited number of bottles of a desirable whisky. TIER 2 Wholesalers Licensed importers, distributors, and state control boards receive a portion of whisky for their markets. Other bottles may go to export markets. TIER 3 Retailers Liquor stores, bars, and restaurants far outnumber the available bottles, so the regional whole-saler or control board allocates them. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE Although the separation of the three tiers is fairly standard across the…

DAVID LANDRUM is the founder of Two James Spirits, a small distillery in Detroit. His buddy, Jacques Driscoll, runs Johnny Noodle King, a nearby ramen shop. Driscoll was planning a bar program for the restaurant and asked Landrum if he might create a whiskey to complement his umami-rich broths. “I was an art student,” says Landrum. “I’ve always been pushed by creativity. I like to keep making new things.” He had been drinking a lot of Asian teas and lapsang souchong, a Chinese smoked tea, came to mind. It was a source of inspiration. Landrum infused a blend of corn and rye whiskeys with lapsang souchong and two other Asian teas. He calls it Johnny Smoking Gun. Driscoll loved it. Both the noodle shop and Two James’s tasting room serve…

Best Values Whiskies with solid scores, modest prices, and wide availability. IRISH SINGLE POT STILL 93 Kilbeggan Single Pot Still, 43%, $45 The follow up to Small Batch rye, this single pot still is double-distilled at the historic Kilbeggan Distillery with a mashbill containing 2.5% oats, inspired by a Locke family recipe from the late 1800s. Pot still spices hit the nose first, with candied peel, baked peach, apricot, creamy vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground pepper. Flavors of orange, apricot, cake, and vanilla combat fizzing pot still spices. Sublimely good Irish whiskey.—JM BLENDED SCOTCH 91 Chivas Regal 13 year old Manchester United Limited Edition, 40%, $35 Bottled in recognition of Sir Alex Ferguson’s remarkable thirteen league soccer titles, this scotch does him proud. Juicy citrus, aromatic spices, and vanilla pudding;…